Frances Price – tart widow, possessive mother, and Upper East Side force of nature – is in dire straits, beset by scandal and impending bankruptcy. Her adult son Malcolm is no help, mired in a permanent state of arrested development. And then there’s the Price’s aging cat, Small Frank, who Frances believes houses the spirit of her late husband, an infamously immoral litigator and world-class cad whose gruesome tabloid death rendered Frances and Malcolm social outcasts.Putting penury and pariahdom behind them, the family decides to cut their losses and head for the exit. One ocean voyage later, the curious trio land in their beloved Paris, the City of Light serving as a backdrop not for love or romance, but self destruction and economical ruin – to riotous effect. A number of singular characters serve to round out the cast: a bashful private investigator, an aimless psychic proposing a seance, and a doctor who makes house calls.Praise for "French Exit" “The first time I read "French Exit," I raced through, impatient to know the fates of its characters. Then I turned back to page one to enjoy Patrick deWitt’s understated satire and casually brutal wit.” (Nell Zink, author of Mislaid and Nicotine )“‘My favorite book of his yet. The dialogue is dizzyingly good, the world so weird and fresh. A triumph from a writer truly in the zone.” (Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Today Will Be Different)“Sharply observed moments give deWitt’s well-written novel more depth than the usual comedy of manners—a depth reinforced by the exit that closes the tale, sharp object and all. Reminiscent at points of The Ginger Man but in the end a bright, original yarn with a surprising twist.” (Kirkus Reviews)Patrick deWitt is the author of the critically acclaimed Ablutions: Notes for a Novel, as well as The Sisters Brothers, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize. Born in British Columbia, he has also lived in California and Washington, and now resides in Portland, Oregon.Maria Semple is the author of This One Is Mine and Where'd You Go, Bernadette, which has been translated into eighteen languages. She lives in Seattle.

How do child and family detention camps and the SCOTUS upholding of the travel ban follow a broader historical arc? Join a conversation, punctuated with arts and creativity, where community leaders who are responding to recent changes in immigrant policy and law map out social movements for inclusivity and equality. Highlights will include Native sovereignty, Black Diasporas, Asian Pacific Islander organizing and insights into coalition-based community organizing. This evening will close out the Art on the Plaza series. This program is made possible with support from The Seattle Public Library Foundation.

The cultural significance of salmon, food sovereignty and issues in salmon recovery will be explored. Panelists includes:Dr. Charlotte Cote (Tseshaht/Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation), Valerie Segrest (Muckleshoot), Susan Balbas (Cherokee and Yaqui Nations) and Roger Fernandes (Lower Elwha Band S’Klallam). Come at 6:30 p.m. to explore the exhibit, Protecting the x̌ʷəlč: Indigenous Stewardship of the Salish Sea, in the Library’s 8th Floor Gallery. Exhibit curators will be on hand to answer questions and share insights. Program starts at 7 p.m..

Karen Joy Fowler is the author of six novels and three short story collections. She has written literary, contemporary, historical, and science fiction, and won two Nebulas and two World Fantasy Awards. Her most recent novel, We are all completely beside ourselves, won the 2013 PEN/Faulkner award and the California Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker in 2014. She lives in Santa Cruz, California where she is currently pretending to write a new book.Clarion West Writers Workshop is dedicated to providing high quality educational opportunities for writers of speculative fiction at the start of their careers.

Check out a unique music program featuring film scores by award-winning composer Renee' Baker. The night will feature scores for “Body and Soul” (1925) by Oscar Micheaux and the Baker’s film “Dinner: Race, Greed, Abuse and the Priority of Social Justice” (2017). As an artist with a vision of racial unity, Baker’s music brings people together. Her wide-ranging portfolio covers films from the 1920s to the present, rescored with her original music. As the director of Chicago Modern Orchestra Project music, Renee' moves fluidly through narrative and experimental films. She unites aficionados of classical and avant garde music, early film lovers, and people who want to see and hear more inclusivity in cinema and music. Along the way, Baker welcomes in new audiences by inspiring us to have new and more compelling conversations about how we can challenge stereotypes while writing people of color and women into histories that often excluded them.

Barbadian author and research consultant Karen Lord is known for her debut novel "Redemption in Indigo," which won the 2008 Frank Collymore Literary Award, the 2010 Carl Brandon Parallax Award, the 2011 William L. Crawford Award, the 2011 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature and the 2012 Kitschies Golden Tentacle (Best Debut), and was nominated for the 2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. She is the author of the science fiction duology "The Best of All Possible Worlds and The Galaxy Game," and the editor of the anthology "New Worlds, Old Ways: Speculative Tales from the Caribbean."Clarion West Writers Workshop is dedicated to providing high quality educational opportunities for writers of speculative fiction at the start of their careers.